Two sheriff’s deputies were killed after a shoot-out with a suspect in Abingdon, Maryland. Police say the suspect, who was not identified, was killed as well.
The Harford County sheriff confirmed that a gunman opened fire and injured one of the deputies at a Panera Bread restaurant on Wednesday morning. He then fled and exchanged gunfire with another deputy at another location. The deputies was injured in the exchange, while the suspect was killed, authorities said initialluy.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has released a statement about the shooting.
The Baltimore Sun reports that Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler believes the officers were targeted, saying "the suspect took that action because he was in a police uniform. He certainly targeting them."
Both deputies died of their injuries on Wednesday afternoon. They were the first deputies shot and killed in the line of duty since 1899, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Speaking to the press at 2:30 p.m local time, Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said he could not provide any details about the deputies’ condition, or the identity of the suspect, but that he did not believe there was a threat to the community. The gunman was apparently alone, he said.
About 15 minutes passed between the first shots and the last, Sheriff Gahler said. The second deputy was able to catch up with the suspect thanks to eyewitnesses who provided “good information” on where the man had fled.
Lynn Faulkner, a resident of nearby Fallston who was inside the Panera at the time of the shooting, told the Baltimore Sun that the suspect looked “homeless, disheveled,” and that she had seen him at the store before. It looked like the deputy was talking to the man, and then the shooting started, Faulkner said.
Abingdon is a community in Harford County, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Baltimore.